Is There Music in the Sounds of Nature? - The Rhythm of Life

You are going to

• discuss music and nature
• practise some vocabulary connected with music and nature
• listen to a sound from nature and try and guess what it is
• watch a clip about music in nature
• do some comprehension activities

Discuss

• What sounds do we hear in nature? Write a list eg wind, birds singing...
• Are these sounds musical?
• Do you think there is music in nature?

Discuss / Listen

Listen to the sound clip below.
It's the sound of something in nature.

• What do you think it is? Can you guess?
• Is it an animal, an Insect or something else? (Use - It might be a... / It could be.../ it sounds like.... )
• Do you like the sound?
• Could you dance to it?
• Is it music?

listen to ‘The Rhythm’ on Audioboo

 You can find out what the rhythm is in the video clip below. But before you watch...

 

Practise
Vocabulary
You are going to watch a video
Check you know the meanings of the following words which feature in the video clip.
Match the words with their definitions.








Watch
You are going to watch a clip from the BBC TV series "The Rhythm of Life". It's about music in nature and is presented by George Martin.

• What things from nature can you see in the clip?
• What sounds from nature do you hear?
• At 3:40 you will hear the rhythm above. What is it?

• Are you surprised at what the rhythm is?

2) Now do the comprehension quiz

3) Listen again to Bernie Kraus' explanation of how the rhythm is made and fill in the gaps

Download printable worksheets here
Vocabulary match

Video comprehension




Discuss

• Is the sound clip really music? What is "music"?
• Do you agree with George Martin that only humans can make music "because it takes such a high degree of intelligence and organization and we are the only animals capable of doing it" or, like Bernie Krause, do you have a more open mind?

© D. Mainwood

Write
Write an essay discussing one of the questions above. Support your opinions with examples.






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